“Seulgi, sweetheart, do you want something else to go with your breakfast? I’ve made you omelette and bacons.”

Seulgi looked up from the coat she was buttoning on herself and found her mom standing on her doorway. “No, mom, it’s all good. You know that your omelette and bacons are the deal breaker. No other food matters when they are on.”

Her mom chuckled lightly. “Alright, hurry up then. Let’s have them together. Your father is waiting and you know how impatient he gets when he is sitting in front of food.”

Seulgi grinned because oh, she knew. She had had one too many experiences when she walked downstairs to find one or two morsels already missing from her plate.

“Morning, dad.” She bent down to give him a kiss on the cheek, pulling the chair beside his to sit down. She smiled at the part-time cleaning lady who had come to tidy up their house too and the lady gave her one back.

“Seulgi! How very dashing of you to dress up like this today. I love this navy coat on you.”

Seulgi pretended to roll her eyes as her smile curled up. “Sure. It’s not like you were the one who got it for me or something.”

Her father grinned. “Where are you going today? I was going to ask you to take the boat with me and go fishing today.” He gestured at the ocean view outside the floor-to-ceiling window lining up their dining room.

“Well, Joohyun has another audition in Seoul today, so I’ll be going with her like usual.”

Her father stole a piece of bacon from her plate – even though he still had his own – and Seulgi just gave him a look.

He promptly ignored it. “So, has she landed any role yet? That girl is very hard working and surprisingly determined. I’m hoping she will get a good one really soon.”

Seulgi scrunched up her nose a bit. “She hasn’t gotten any role yet, but I believe that she will, very soon. She is just too good at acting to keep getting passed over.”

Her father wagged his fork in agreement. “That’s true. She’s really good at acting. Like that one time when you were both 12 and you accidentally knocked over my favorite china vase but felt too scared to admit it, so she said that it was her who broke it.”

Seulgi’s jaw fell wide open. “You knew that it was my doing?”

“Sweetheart, I’m your father. Of course I know everything you are doing.”

“Don’t believe him.” Her mother mused, chuckling fondly. “He just saw the CCTV record after that. He got tricked too, believing fully that it was Joohyun who did it.”

Her father laughed. “Well, you can’t blame me. She was very convincing even at age 12, looking sorry and regretful and all. She will make it in the acting world, mark my words.”

Seulgi was so amused. “So, you were not mad? At me for breaking the vase and at her for lying to you?”

“Oh, sweetheart. It was just a china. I could always get a new one. You were just you, too proper and always fearful of even the smallest mistakes. And well, I could not get mad at Joohyun. She was just being such a good friend to you and I’ve always liked it about her.”

Seulgi’s heart warmed at his words. Something about her parents liking Joohyun as much as she did just felt…really good.

“Speaking of proper, have you properly thought about your college choice yet? You are going to be a senior in a couple more months.”

That yanked her out of her warmth and made her wince instead. “Um, not yet. I mean, I thought about it, but I still can’t decide. I – I’m not sure what I want to do in the long run.”

Her father blinked at her slowly as if she had just spoken in riddles. “What? Don’t you want to go into filmmaking and all? Screenwriting and directing, isn’t it?”

Seulgi gestured at the air around her with her hands – not even sure what movement she was trying to make – and sighed anxiously. “Yeah, but I’m not sure I can do it. What if I’m not cut out to do it for a living? So many people try those things and just…never make it. Besides, I have to go to Seoul to be able to attend that kind of major and I don’t –”

I don’t really want to leave here.

I don’t want to leave the two of you and everything that’s familiar to me here.

Familiarity is nice.

Seulgi knew that she was being foolish, but she wasn’t the one who actually enjoyed stepping out of her comfort zone and testing boundaries.

Some people might like it – Joohyun did, she knew – but she didn’t. She didn’t dream of the biggest things in life and she felt fully content with the small, daily things she had.

Like having breakfast and joking with her parents, hanging out with her friends whom she had known since elementary up to high school because the town was just so small, and being able to have sleepover at Joohyun’s place – falling asleep to her warmth and her sweet scent of shampoo – whenever she wanted to.

The last thought wrenched her stomach unpleasantly, because that would undoubtedly come to an end when Joohyun went to Seoul for college.

“Don’t you want to go with Joohyun? She wants to go to Seoul for college, doesn’t she?” Her father spoke her mind.

Seulgi blinked back to awareness and looked up to him. “She did ask me sometimes, in passing jokes, if I would like to go there with her for college. But I just – I feel…”

“You feel scared about making new friends and taking new challenges in a new place again? Just like when you were little?”

“Honey.” Her mom placated her dad gently even though he had spoken it out not unkindly. Seulgi’s face colored shamefully because she had been read so accurately.

“Seulgi, sweetheart, you are 17. You can’t keep acting like that. It won’t get you anywhere in life. You will regret when you’re older and all the opportunities have passed you. Besides, Joohyun will be there with you, won’t she?”

Yes, but what if she finds new, better friends who are more interesting once we’re there?

What if she finds the bigger life she so much deserves, but I just can’t keep up with her?

Seulgi wanted to blame the kids in Busan – in her much more lavish, old school before she moved to Sokcho – for giving her enough bad experience to always feel like an inferior person up until today, but she knew that she had no one to blame but herself.

After all, some other kids probably had been an outcast once in their lives but managed to move past it, right?

Some other kids probably had been left alone as last choice in every teammate-picking – because they were just so debilitatingly shy like her – but turned out just fine. Right?

“Sweetheart, I know that you are scared and that you are not very confident of your ability, but will you please give yourself the same good faith and trust you give Joohyun? If you believe she can make it despite all the odds, then you should believe you can too.”

Seulgi sighed, knowing that he was right. “I will…try, dad. Thanks.”

He finally smiled at her again. “Good. Now, finish this amazing food before I eat them all.”

They laughed and finished their meal gratefully, making Seulgi feel so lucky to have such a great pair of supportive parents.

“Mom, can we pack some breakfast for Joohyun too? I think she hasn’t eaten anything.”

Her mom nodded and got to work. “Sure, sweetheart. Give me a moment to make some for her. She loves these omelette and bacons a lot.”

------------------------------------------

Seulgi had a bet with herself that Joohyun hadn’t had breakfast and she turned out to be correct, just as usual.

Her friend ran into the entrance of the train station with a wild look on her, long hair blown messily by the wind – which, ridiculously, didn’t look bad and looked like a shampoo commercial instead, Seulgi noted with amazement – and a wide pair of eyes.

“Why do you look like you have just mowed down every building and elbowed everyone in the ribs to get here?” She laughed when Joohyun finally reached her beside the ticketing counter, bending over and panting heavily as if she had just run a marathon.

When she looked up again, her eyes were owlish. “I overslept. I stayed up until five in the morning and then I fell asleep right on the last minutes! Jesus Christ, I’m such an idiot.”

Seulgi shook her head. “Well, you kind of are, but only because you thought it was a good idea to stay up that late the night before your audition. What were you thinking?”

Joohyun waved her off. “Nothing, apparently. But enough of judging me. Let’s get on the train before it leaves us for Seoul.”

She pulled Seulgi by hand and Seulgi let her, enjoying the easy little contacts they had always had. It was a bit of a surprise for her many years ago – how tactile Joohyun was – but now it was just another habit of hers that Seulgi liked.

“Do I get the window seat?” Joohyun blinked up at her hopefully even though half of her body was already stepping into their row of seats.

“Sure, you do.” Seulgi mused, slipping the tickets into her coat’s pocket so Joohyun couldn’t see them, because the window seat was actually Seulgi’s.

“Yes! I love window seat. The best seat to exist. The greatest humankind’s invention!”

“Okay, now you are just being weird. Should I move away so you can have a moment with your seat?”

“Nope. Not a chance. You are stuck with me for the rest of the ride.” Joohyun pulled her down and they both collapsed on the seats with laughter.

The train departed not long after that and Joohyun stared out of the window with wonder in her eyes, as if she hadn’t looked at the same sight for many, many times.

Something about being able to get out of their small town, she’d told Seulgi, always filled her with excitement. It was another one of their big differences, but Seulgi didn’t mind.

So far, they had been the same in all the ways that mattered and different only in ways that were exciting.

“I bring you breakfast.” She pulled out the lunchbox from her bag, handing it over to Joohyun who eyed her like she had given her a key to a luxury penthouse.

“Please tell me this is your mom’s omelette and bacons. I will give you my firstborn.”

“Lucky for you, it is. And no, no child sacrifice is needed here.”

Joohyun squealed like a toddler and tore into the lunchbox with gusto. Seulgi watched her with amusement. “It’s a bit cold now but I hope it’s still good. I helped mom make it.”

“You did?” Joohyun mumbled through a mouthful of the omelette, making satisfied noises at the taste of garlic, butter, and mushroom wrapped inside. Her eyes screwed shut in a bliss. “Oh god, Seulgi. I know that I’ve always kept you as a friend for a reason.”

“….For my mom’s mushroom omelette and bacons?”

“Yes. That is the only reason.”

“Wow. High praise. Very flattering. I’m forever touched and remained teary-eyed for the rest of my life. My job from now on is just to cry over our deeply sentimental friendship.”

Joohyun laughed and elbowed her. “Stop being sarcastic, .”

“Now that is a crude word, young lady. Your teachers will be ashamed.”

“So, what? You prefer me to say, uh, stop being sarcastic, buttock? Or backside? Stop being sarcastic, oh thee backside?”

Seulgi cracked up with giggles that were strong enough to shake her entire body even as she tried to keep her voice low. “You are insane, that’s what you are.”

“Oh, thee friend, are the insane one.”

“Stop using thee, for god’s sake. I’m dying with a stomach cramp over here.” She wiped tears away from the corner of her eyes.

“For Shakespeare’s sake, I will.” Joohyun grinned. “Why won’t you curse for once, huh? Come on. If I can venture into your land of goodness and politeness, you can venture into my chaotic one. Do it.”

“Nope. Not gonna happen.”

“Say , Seulgi.”

“Shush! People can hear you.” She half scolded and half whispered at her friend.

“Aw, come on, say , Seulgi.” Joohyun said with an even louder voice and Seulgi blushed beet red as an old lady beside them fixed them with a distasteful look.

Seulgi wanted to drown in her coat and never resurfaced again.

But Joohyun only laughed at her demise and she found that it didn’t matter so much if she was embarrassed, if she could get that worried look wiped off of her friend’s face.

She knew that Joohyun had the penchant to be joking around a lot when she was nervous before auditions.

She also knew that she must have stayed up so late the night prior because she was busy doing research on similar roles to the one she was going to audition for.

She was probably taking notes, analyzing, and studying every possible angle she could pull off today for her role. It was just Joohyun, always determined and taking her attempts very seriously no matter how many times she had failed.

Seulgi admired her and felt very proud of her at the same time.

“What’s the role you are going to audition for today?”

Joohyun finished chewing and hummed. “They are casting for the male protagonist’s daughter. He is a 40 year old ex-hitman who regrets his past and just wants to live in peace after his wife’s death. But enemies from his past keep coming back and they kidnap his daughter.”

Seulgi frowned. “So, that’s you, the kidnapped daughter? Isn’t it a distressing role?”

“Yes, if I get it.” Joohyun put a strong emphasize on the ‘if’ and groaned. “God, I wish I get distressed because of this role. I actively seek distress in this case.”

Seulgi’s lips curled up as she took back the now empty lunchbox from her. “You will do well, I believe you. Well, that is, if you don’t pass out before you get the chance to act your role.”

Joohyun raised an eyebrow at her.

“Honestly Joohyun, you look like you are about to fall asleep in under one minute. You better get some shuteye before the train arrives.”

Joohyun whined. “Well, I’ve never tried acting as a kidnapped person, so I spent the night watching all sorts of things with that theme and tried to catch their emotions. I didn’t get to sleep much but I’ll be fine.” Her words betrayed her as she yawned widely afterwards.

She clasped with her hand and looked sheepishly at her. “Oops. A moment of weakness. But I am alright. Don’t worry.”

Seulgi rolled her eyes and went to fish out the neck pillow she had brought with her from her bag. She tossed it at Joohyun and repeated firmly as if she hadn’t said anything. “Sleep. You need sleep.”

“But I still need to go over my notes from last night and –”

“Research shows that people who lack sleep actually struggle to recognize and interpret emotions. You won’t want that, will you?”

Joohyun blinked at her very slowly. “Now you are just making that up.”

“I’m not. It’s real. I read it from a research journal.”

“Who, for Christ’s sake, reads a damn research journal? Please tell me that it was for an assignment so I don’t have to send you to a nearby hospital.”

Seulgi laughed. “It wasn’t for an assignment but it’s not any less true. So, sleep. Unless you want to mess up your own audition.”

Joohyun narrowed her eyes at her, but Seulgi knew that her work was done. The softening in her friend’s previously stubborn eyes was evident.

“Fine, alright. I will sleep, but only if you say .”

That she hadn’t expected.

Joohyun’s widening grin was just plain evil. “Come on, Seulgi. Do it. Unless you want me to mess up my audition. Then it’ll be all your fault and not mine.”

“Aw, come on, that’s hardl